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Cast of colours at play in the garden

Yellow, red, blue have different personalities

Yellow shows its softer side as these buttery, pale bloom cascade from a container.

EDMONTON - Shakespeare said that all the world is a stage, with all of us playing our unique parts.

The same holds true for colours in the garden. Each has its own dynamic, unique personality. Colours are fascinating both in how they interplay with others — whether through graceful harmony or invigorating contrast — and in how they look on their own.

In a world of neutrals, many of us are afraid of colour. But the garden is the place to celebrate the way it.

Yellow: Pure and honest joy

Yellow is a favourite for many; it’s light and pure, honest and joyful. Van Gogh’s use of yellow, in his sunflowers or especially his Paris café, always fills me with the feeling of peace.

In the garden, yellow is like a dog that only wants to love you, from the symmetrical honesty of a sunflower to the warm glow of lantana. It excites and soothes the soul at the same time.

When I use yellow, I throw subtlety out the window and use the brightest, most joyous yellow I can find. I love it in harmonious containers, where a vibrant, primary yellow centrepiece is highlighted by more muted yellow foliage such as lysimachia.

I suggest using yellow sparingly. Every garden should have some, but not so much that you fall out of love with its warm glow.

Red: Passion and danger

Red is the invigorating colour of boldness and passion. To me, red is swirling dresses in tango or the flag of revolution waving on the barricade in the musical Les Miserables.

Red brings an instant heat and sexiness to the garden. Arguably the warmest colour, it awakens the senses to play and adventure.

I love red, but am cautious with it in the garden. It’s volatile, and if you imagine a garden with nothing but red, you can quickly see how its intensity could overwhelm all other colour schemes.

I suggest using red when you want to make a container really stand out. If you mix it with other analogous warm colours, such as yellows and oranges, it will glow as a centrepiece. Try to avoid an abundance of red in your outdoor sitting areas; it stirs the blood too much.

Blue: Complex mystery

Several summers ago, I went climbing on a glacier that towers high above Moraine Lake in Banff. At that height, the sky becomes a deep, rich blue. As we were crossing the glacier, yawning crevasses opened up on either side of us, their walls tapering down into the ice and glimmering with a blue radiance so cold it was captivating. I’ll never forget those two blues that day on the glacier; the rich, almost thick blue sky that went on forever and the lifeless, mesmerizing blue tapering into icy depths.

Blue is a mysterious, complicated colour with many moods and layers. The two blues on that glacier were both pure and wondrous, but while the sky was an honest celebration of life, the crevasse was a shadowy and protracted mystery.

In the garden, blue can be just as varied. It can inspire feelings of freedom and expansiveness, or it can treat your eye to intoxicating depths as it lingers in shadows. Light blue is refreshing and calming to look at, and darker shades have a delicious thickness to them.

No garden should be without some blue, as a tribute to the sky if for no other reason. It’s a cool colour, but it has a vast range from the icy, subtle interplay of blues on succulents to deep blue delphiniums.

Plant blue close to where you like to relax and let its ethereal beauty inspire quiet contemplation.

Rob Sproule is the author of Gardening with Colour, Creative Design Ideas for Canadian Gardens (Lone Pine Publishing) and the co-owner of Salisbury Greenhouse in Sherwood Park. For more information, go to salisburygreenhouse.com.

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